Updated news on the Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese and Colombo Organized Crime Families of New York City.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Rogue cop likely to testify in slay John Gotti Jr. ordered; DA Morgenthau's driver swears not a rat


Retired NYPD Detective James Arenella angrily denied furnishing the Gambinos with inside information in his 15 years as driver for Manhattan prosecutor Robert Morgenthau.

Phil Baroni copped a plea on Aug. 18, nearly 21 years after the slaying of George Grosso, shot in the head by Gambino family hit man John Alite in December 1988, sources told The News.

Sources familiar with the case said the murderous cop is expected to testify in Gotti's racketeering case.

The trial, the fourth in five years for Gotti, will begin Monday. The government's three previous bids to convict Gotti ended in mistrials.

Gotti, the 45-year-old son of infamous "Teflon Don" John Gotti Sr., insists he retired from the mob a decade ago.

Alite, a key government witness against his former best friend Gotti, says he whacked drug dealer Grosso on Junior's orders.

Baroni, a crooked cop on Alite's pad for years, was the getaway driver and helped dump the body, Alite testified at the trial of fellow hit man Charles Carneglia earlier this year.

Junior Gotti ordered the killing because Grosso was "running his mouth saying that he was dealing coke for the Gottis," Alite said.

If the dirty cop testifies, he could corroborate Alite's version of the mob hit. Federal prosecutors in Florida flipped Baroni, sources said.

Junior Gotti also has been charged with the 1991 drug murder of dealer Bruce Gotterup, killed in a money dispute. Defense lawyers lost a legal fight to have the murder charges tossed.

Alite, in a stunning sitdown with FBI agents, identified Baroni as one of 11 dirty cops doing business with the Gambino family.

Retired NYPD Detective James Arenella angrily denied furnishing the Gambinos with inside information in his 15 years as driver for Manhattan prosecutor Robert Morgenthau.

"The only thing I'm going to tell you is that it's all lies - swear on my kids," Arenella told The News outside his Massapequa, L.I., home. "I'm sick over this."

Arenella, 58, became the latest accused cop to denounce mob killer-turned-mob informer Alite as a serial perjurer.

One day earlier, a pair of top ex-detectives lambasted Alite. Celebrity private eye Bo Dietl and ex-cop/author Joe Coffey vehemently denied knowing Alite.

Arenella echoed his ex-colleagues. "All I can say is it is all lies," Arenella said when asked whether he knew Alite.

Arenella was assigned to the district attorney's detective squad and worked there from March 1987 through his retirement in 2002. He joined the NYPD in 1974.

"He was a loyal employee of the highest integrity," Morgenthau's office said.



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